Dreamscapes
by Aenlic
Summary: Have you ever dreamt a dream so real it hurt to wake, because you have no idea what's real and not anymore? Because these dreams are different worlds, and we're all linked together. championshipping


**Dreamscapes**

**Pre-Story Message:** I don't like to put notes before a story, but I must warn you that this is one confusing story, and there are four different worlds/dreamscapes in this story. Specifically, the Pokémon Special, the Game, the Anime, and another world -- but based on the game world. Enjoy.

* * *

"We don't exist," he says breathlessly, leaning closer and closer, warm breath on my neck. "We don't exist. All this, _all of this_ -- it's false. It's not real, Red. It's _not_."

* * *

Have you ever dreamt a dream so real it hurt to wake, because you have no idea what's real and not anymore? I don't claim to have done so, but I know it's something along those lines -- stuck in a place where I was turned against my four best friends, stuck in a place where I had to fight them to protect a world I wanted to save...

It's funny, sometimes. You know how people say dreams are our subconscious trying to tell us something? I don't get what mine is trying to say, though, befriending an old childhood rival I knew naught of right now, my younger sister and my smallest cousin... How four of us had to team up and fight against the four closest people I held to my heart.

I don't tell anyone about the dreams; Lorelei would only laugh, Bruno would sit in his corner and meditate, Agatha would give some cryptic comment before going off into her room to cackle while Lance... Who knows what Lance would think of me turning against _them_? Truth to be told, Lance is the only member I feel no connection to. True, throughout my entire journey, I have had help, but even so...

I mean, you'd be grateful for that red-haired strange wearing a cloak who comes on his Dragonite and saves the day, but when your Prince Charming disappears after the deed is done without even properly introducing himself, even Cinderella would be displeased.

...only I'm not Cinderella and Lance isn't really a Prince. Dragon Master, yes; Prince, no. Not that I would _ever_ think that way, it's just a example. A convenient example. I doubt even Dragonite would be able to carry Lance(no matter how light he is), if he wore those heavy armour from long ago...

It's kind of a funny image; Lance in armour on his Dragonite. If I could get Todd here, or find a camera, Mew knows how much money I would make. Not that I need money; not that being Champion alone doesn't give me enough credit to spend per month already...

But, yes, back to the dreams. It's a funny world, my dreamscape, and all the events that have happened there. How I fought along side the guy once my rival, my sister(who isn't my sister in there) and my cousin(who's special and wonderful and stole Pikachu from me)... Green would laugh if he ever heard of it, wherever he is; Blue would snort and demand I sleep more while Yellow... would take the chance to ask if she could borrow Pika.

(No.)

I started out with a Poliwag in that world; apparently a gift from my dreamscape father who left home one day and never came back. Just how strange is that? Everybody knows it's best to get your first pokémon from Professor Oak. Either Charmander, Bulbasaur or Squirtle. I chose Charmander.

And the other version of me? Bulbasaur. Sure, Bulbasaur would be good against Brock and Misty, first two of the Kanto Gyms, but... Grass pokémon were rather common around Cerulean, you know? That, and I've always felt an affinity for fire.

Fire and lightning.

I suppose the second half is the only part of me that's similiar to the me inside my dream -- Lightning; Pikachu. I have a Pikachu called Pika, and so does he, and Pika in both worlds... doesn't want to evolve. Only I sort of pity him when he first met his Pika, the poor other me, he was shocked so many times, it must have caused permanent brain damage or something...

Hah. I wish. Instead of being sent into a hospital? He _won_ the Championship.

Well, so did I, but...

That's not really what confused me though.

Why did the other me have to fight the Elite Four as his enemies? The subconscious... is telling me something, but I don't understand. Lorelei and Agatha have no reason to harm me, and neither does Lance(I'm not too sure about Bruno, actually, but I've heard from Lorelei that _he wouldn't hurt a fly_. However, I know for certain that _I'm no fly..._)

But the dream, you must understand, felt so real. Ice shackles around my wrists and ankles, until I _completely_ froze over. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, my eyes open as I gazed upon the world silently -- oh Mew, Lance woke me up and told me I was screaming badly, and he held me quietly while I sobbed and I...

Let me... get a grip on myself.

It's, you surely think, nothing much. It's just a dream.

...if only you knew.

It affects me a lot. I haven't been sleeping right, because I'm afraid to return to that world, to see him killed by my own arms -- or even Yellow's. Lance -- dying? NO. No, he can't die, he can't -- he's important, he's the leader, and if he dies...

* * *

"Not real," I echo, confusion plain on my face. "But it -- this place is..." I shift my fingers down and pinch myself. I feel the pain -- I feel the pain, _so why isn't this real? Why isn't this... real?_

* * *

I've been having weird dreams lately, dreams of another world so different from mine. I think it's the springs' fault, because I never had these weird dreams until I came here, to Mt. Silver.

Do you believe in alternate universes? In other versions of people? Because I think I do now.

In my dreams, I see myself, permanent Champion of the Indigo League. Green isn't there, Blue's my sister and Yellow... Yellow is a younger cousin. There -- there, my life is relatively normal. There, the Elite Four are my friends and they're not trying to take over the world or even try to destroy it. There, Lance has saved 'my' life many, many times.

It freaks me out.

Lance is an enemy; Lance is the leader of the Elite Four. Lance commanded Lorelei and Agatha to stick me into an ice prison, the very same reason that Green has sent me to the springs in hopes that my injuries can be cured...

And there he is, another me, happily talking away to Lorelei and Agatha, as if nothing bad had happened. Well, nothing has, but... When some people have been trying to kill you, you get suspiscious -- even in dreams.

Blue once told me dreams meant something, whether a small message our brain is trying to tell us, or... something. That's why someone who accidentally falls off the bed dreams of falling; because the mind is trying to warn the body. So what did being friends with enemies mean?

I suppose, it was a possible future, if I had decided to join the Elite Four back then, when I had been given a chance. But I _couldn't_. The numbers of lives at stake, the pokémon and their trainers -- everyone... I couldn't do it. I...

They're very different.

Lorelei in my dreams is a kind-hearted lady who gossips a bit too much. Bruno is kind, and quiet. Agatha is as mysterious as ever, but my other self _likes_ her. And Lance...

If I were warped enough, I would say Lance is my other self's knight in shining armour. I just did. The way he thinks about him, the way he sees him -- it's like a young girl infatuated with her crush, it's like...

Well, I don't really blame him. Lance saved his life (twice), and Lance is, well, umm, sort of good-looking?

Sort of.

My tastes don't run that way.

I mean, liking somebody who wanted to destroy the world, and destroy you? Nope, totally out of my world.

I think that's where we really differ. My other left his hometown in hopes of becoming a Master, which he has achieved. He left his cousin, his sister and his rival behind; he no longer knows where they are, no longer knows how they're doing. The only people he can turn to are the Elite, and they take care of him. Very good care.

And as for me, Green stays by my side. He sents letters, and I've only just met Blue yesterday. Pika's with Yellow, and I know Yellow will take care of him, and... I'm not a Master. I don't think I can ever become one; I'm not interested in filling up the pokédex, I'm not interested in maintaining my position as Champion, I...

I can't help but wonder, though. What if Lance had never turned against humans and trainers...

Would I like him?

I think back to my other -- and I think I would have.

Liked him, I mean.

* * *

He smiles weakly at me. "It's a dream," he starts, "a very bad one. You'll wake up, Red. Wake up and forget this bad dream." He holds me close, and I can smell his scent, the familiar scent of vanilla mixed with something stronger and it makes me drowsy...

* * *

Misty says confession is good for your soul everyonce in a while, but I don't get her. I mean, you're just a statue, right? What good would you listening to me do? But she's glaring at me from outside, and so I suppose I am meant to share with you some deep dark secret, or...

I haven't changed my underwear for three days.

...dark enough?

HEY!

...eep. For a while, I thought your eyes flashed red. But I guess I'm being far too jumpy for my own --

That sound is... sort of creepy.

...wait, what do you mean I have to talk for five minutes? You never said --

Oww. I didn't know priests were _this_ strong.

And Misty's not the only one glaring now.

Geez, what's the matter with this... Oh, alright. I'll humour them.

Let's see... What do I have to confess, oh, okay.

I _know_ you're a statue, but something doesn't feel right about you. You won't tell anyone else, right?

I mean, lately, there's been something bothering me. I've been having dreams. Not just any dreams, it's... I'm living in three separate worlds. Funny thing is, in one of them, I'm the Champion, and have always been since I defeated Lance. In the second? I was Champion, but now I'm just inside some hot springs trying to recover from... an attack. A curse? Something like that -- it's hard to explain.

Ever heard of voodoo dolls?

Misty and I met this girl in the Orange Islands once, they said she was Prima, and she was a wonderful water and ice trainer. Well, in those two worlds? She's known as Lorelei and she's one of the four members of the Elite Four, and... In the first world, she's a nice lady. In the second, she tried to destroy the world, not because she hated it, but so pokémon could get the space they wanted.

But it's not that that...

In the first world, I think that other me is... strange. He doesn't know where his rival is(Green, or Gary, I think.), where his sister is(WHAT SISTER?), where his cousin is(No comment.)... He's... pitiable. And he... likes Lance a lot.

And the second -- it's even more confusing. The Elite Four there are bad people, trying to destroy the world for pokémon and I'm one of the people trying to stop them, and... I like Gar -- Green there. He's nice, and not snarky, and he's... Mature. He reminds me of the Gary I once knew where we were kids, you know, from long ago.

I miss that Gary.

But it's not Gary, it's Lance. He's so different, so scary. He can heal like a Chansey in the second world, and he... He stole pokémon. It sounds so weird and off the Lance I know, I... I don't believe Lance could be like that. I mean, he's the one who's helped us at the Lake of Rage, right? Somebody would helped defended against Team Rocket couldn't be so evil as to want to destroy the world...

Even if he didn't succeed...

I don't --

Wha-- Misty? Oh, time's up?

No, nothing. I was just talking to the statue, like you said...

...Misty, I'm _not _going crazy. Yes, I know, but I...

You don't know how real the dream is. How I can feel his pain, the other me who's injured. How I can feel his emotions, the other me who's hurt.

I can still feel them, even though I'm not dreaming...

* * *

I cling to him, and sob into his chest. He lets me hold on, comforting fingers running through the strands of my tangled and wet hair; it hurts to breathe, it hurts so much. "L-Lance," I cry, and he shushes me softly, hugging me tightly. I feel his lips brushing slightly against mine, and I hear him whisper words into my ears, his lower lip just touching my earlobe...

* * *

I don't want Lance to die. I don't want Lance to die. I don't want --

But he's lying on the hospital bed, and he's weakening. They say the cancer got him, but I don't believe it. The Dragon Master can't fall to cancer, he just _can't_.

It's not cancer, though the symptoms liken. It's not cancer -- it's...

It's the worlds.

It sounds stupid, sounds foolish, but it's plausible.

The worlds, and how they affected my dreams now affect his health.

It _has_ to me. It can't be anything else...

It can't be anything else...

* * *

"Red," he murmurs, calling my name. His arms move, and they slip under my shirt, and -- _oh_. I feel his touch and arch towards his fingers, and he's holding me, telling me, "This is a dream, Red. This is a dream -- you have to wake, you have to..."

* * *

My heart hurts.

It's been hurting these past few days, and Charizard is worried. He roars weakly, demanding I let him take me to a hospital. He's insistent, and I know I should, but I... Sabrina said something was up. I had to recover -- I had to recover to go back and help them out in the final battle, I had to...

I think I slip and fall, but I catch a hint of blond before my eyes close to the darkness.

* * *

I weep as his fingers travel up and all over my body. I want him so badly, _so_ badly, it hurt, and I... "Don't leave me," I whimper, and he presses a finger against my lips, glancing straight into my eyes.

* * *

I fall over.

Brock catches me, and I try to open my eyes, to try and steady myself, but I feel their pain, I feel their sorrow. It's taking over me. I struggle to move, to stand up, but I cough and red spatters against the sidewalk, on the pavement. I think I hear screams, and Brock's trying to shift me so he can carry me and...

I don't feel anymore.

* * *

"If you wake," he says. His eyes are firm, as he sweeps me up in his embrace, and he holds me close. "If you sleep anymore, you'll drown, and then I'll never touch you again." Lance buries his head into a crook in my neck. "Never feel you again. You don't want that, do you?"

* * *

I shake my head and I --

I cough.

I coughed as I opened my eyes and inhaled deeply, before I took a look at my surroundings, filled with nothing but white and white and --

My breath hitched when I saw him, his face pale and worried, but he brightened when I caught his gaze and he moved forward, his hands reaching out for mine to hold in his own and...

"You've woken," he said, and I didn't care that he stated the obvious. "Red, you've finally awoken..."

"H-how..." I started, my throat hoarse, preventing me from speaking anymore.

"Two years," he whispered, and I catch the sorrow, the pain in his voice.

Two years... I had been sleeping for two years -- I had been dreaming, you meant...

So all of it... All of it were but dreams?

I managed to smile, lifting my fingers to touch his hair. He laced his fingers with mine, and asked, "Are you feeling well?"

"I..."

Deep inside me, I felt them smile.

I felt the cancer melt into laughter; I saw two people watching the sunrise from within the springs; I watched as he waited by his fallen companion's bedside...

I grinned, to his surprise. And I said, "I've never felt better. I had the nicest dreams."

_owari._

**Post Notes:** I don't recall exactly why I wrote this, but the fear of losing my stories like I have recently in my computer failure urges me to post the ones I deem worthy of posting, and this is one of them. The idea that dreams are different worlds, and the idea that there are many, many other alternate universes out there -- the game world will be expanded upon in something I will hopefully get out soon._  
_


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